I See My Future In Your Eyes
by TheCivilState
Summary: Her life fell apart, so he took her out for breakfast.


_Watch your step, love is broken_ _I am every tear you cry_

It was done. Finished. And when the smoke cleared, it was the doppleganger who survived. The doppleganger who had been cursed to die in the past. The one cursed with indecision. The one either killed in a ritual or turned into a vampire. Of them all, it was Elena who survived.

Stefan and Damon were gone; Alaric still missing. She was alone in the world save for Jeremy, but she couldn't bring herself to look for him. Couldn't go to Denver and say the words, _Jer, Bonnie's dead and it's my fault. _She couldn't have him hate her.

So she packed a bag. Just a bag. Left a note in case anyone came looking for her, but she didn't imagine they would. Even Matt, the only non-supernatural being of them all hadn't survived. Lisa Forbes was gone; Esther and Katherine with her. There was no one to come looking for Elena. There was no one left.

She left and didn't bother locking the door behind her. The only vampires who could enter her house were dead. Save for one.

_Save your breath, your heart has spoken_ _You already have my life_

"Elijah?" Her voice crackled over the com and he buzzed her into his apartment complex. He waited at the door, hearing her hesitant footsteps as she neared his door. Her heart jumped when she knocked, her knuckles ghosting over the door before he opened it.

Her hair was shorter than it had ever been and she was an age Tatia and Katerina would never be. She didn't smile, didn't say hello; just stood there taking in the sight of him. He stepped back and held the door open wide, a silent gesture that she should enter. She dropped her bag- _just one bag- _to the floor and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He had forgotten what it was like to hold Elena Gilbert, to breathe her in and feel her heartbeat. It was wicked of him to think the Salvatore brothers were no more, that there were no other contenders for the heart mangled beyond repair. A heart she dropped at his feet when she fell into his arms.

It was wicked to think he had a chance, but then again, he was no saint.

_Another day, another sunrise_ _Washing over everything_

"Breakfast?" The question was foreign, the word sounding like anything but English. Elena stood at the edge of Elijah's kitchen and watched him cook something that smelled heavily. Her stomach growled and she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten.

"I'll take that as a yes," he teased, smiling at her and gesturing to the plate laden with food that he held in his hand. He set it before a stool pushed against the island and she dutifully sat, trying to thank him either verbally or with a smile. Neither attempts were very successful. But he understood.

"Eat," he said, "And then you're going to take a show and get dressed. And then, Miss Gilbert, I am going to show you Spain."

_In its time, love will be mine_ _The beauty and the tragedy_

They walked along the beach, Elena's bare feet digging into the hot sand as the Mediterranean sea lapped at her ankles. She couldn't recall the last time she'd seen the sunlight, felt its warmth. Mystic Falls had clouded over and rained for weeks after everything had ended. Fitting, really. She would have been upset with the world if the sun had shone.

"Why do you love it here so much?" she asked, words suddenly falling from her mouth faster than she could catch them. She stumbled and Elijah was there, catching her and holding her steady, his hand cool on her heated flesh. She told herself it was the sun and had nothing to do with the man holding her.

"I think," he said, staring down at her short hair that curled above her collarbone, "My reasons are changing." There was a silent agreement that he would get back to her with a more suitable answer sometime in the future. She didn't ask when in the future, just thankful there was one.

_Taking the dreams that made me up_ _And tearing them away_

"Rebekah!" Of all the names Elena could have screamed as her nightmare waged war inside her mind, Rebekah's name was the one that pierced the calm night. Elijah was by her side in an instant, having heard her thrashing about and accelerated heartbeat the moment the nightmare began.

"Elena," he soothed, shaking her gently awake. She bolted upright, pure terror filling her eyes as she tried to scream, but nothing came out. He cradled her head against his chest and willed the nightmares away.

"He killed her," she gasped through her sobs, "He just ripped her heart out as if she wasn't his sister." Her fingers clawed at the fabric of his shirt, knuckles turning white. He was the only anchor she had left in the world and she wouldn't be able to survive if she let him go. She'd drown. Die. Something definite like the ending of a book.

Elijah had been made aware when Esther's spell had been broken, the Original siblings free of their bond to one another. He'd been away, far away, and hadn't bothered to return. He never thought his mother could be such a threat, that Kol, sadistic bastard that he was, could ever turn against their family. He'd been wrong. Wrong and too late to stop the mayhem. And while the loss of his family was agonizing, he knew the loss of Elena would have been worse.

So he thanked whatever god there was and held her until she fell asleep again. She didn't loosen her hold on him and he wouldn't have let her go even if she had.

_But the same love will take this heart that's barely beating_ _And fill it with hope beyond the stars_

"Breakfast?" Elijah stood at the edge of his kitchen and watched Elena dance along to a song on the radio as she went about her cooking. He peered over her shoulder and tried to taste the sauce she was making, but she swatted his hand away.

"Sit," she commanded, gesturing to a stool pressed against the island with her wooden spoon, "And behave." He complied with a smile, watching her dish up an elaborate breakfast and set the plate before him. She watched him like a hawk as he took a few bites and he had to force himself to swallow under her watchful gaze.

"It's horrible, isn't it?" She groaned and turned away from him, but he followed- _like he always did, would- _and caught her around the waist.

"It's true your culinary talents are non-existent," he said, "But I happen to know a bakery around the corner that makes the most excellent crepes."

Elena was dressed in a matter of seconds, her hand reaching out to him as she stood impatiently by the door.

"Well?" she said, eyes bright and a smile stretching across her face, "Aren't you coming?"

He took her hand and watched as she wove her fingers with his, vowing to never let her go until her dying breath.

That moment never came. Neither of them could let go.

_For I am finding out that love will kill and save me_

**a/n: **Zizi said, "Angst and Elejah?" Then she said this was a birthday present and she didn't need anymore presents. So okay.

Fave, flame, faint. [tell me Julie Plec wants to offer me a job writing for the show]

_[song fic inspired by "The Beauty and The Tragedy" by Trading Yesterday]_

_oxox_


End file.
